It can be appreciated by the average boating enthusiast that boarding or disembarking a docked water vessel, particularly a power boat, without assistance from another person nearby can often be quite hazardous and difficult--especially where one utilizes a power boat of the type having a gunwale onto which a person steps during boarding or disembarking.
Further, the boarding or disembarking maneuver from a power boat can be aggravated by waves in rough or choppy water which can cause the boat to bob vigorously in the water.
Prior handles for assisting in boarding or disembarking a water vessel, such as a power boat, normally comprise a handle which is mounted on the gunwale of the vessel. See, for example, the handle described in Canadian Patent No. 1059840. Such handles are of complex construction in order that the handle can be lowered out-of-sight beneath the gunwale of the power boat when not in use. To achieve this, the handle comprises inner and outer substantially rigid telescoped tubes which, when unrestrained, are freely axially slidable relative to one another.
Complex construction of such a handle allows for mechanical failure. Mechanical failure poses a danger when boarding or disembarking a boat: if the mechanism restraining the slidable movement of the telescoping inner and outer tubes fails, the handle could collapse causing undue injury.
This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art without requiring, as in the case of handles attached to the gunwales of power boats, extensive modification to existing boats presently on the marketplace, as will hereinafter become clear.